From a Starlit Sky
by Johanna Night
Summary: Zoe Nightshade will always watch him from a starlit sky. She can never have him as her own, but being friends is second best. She will wait for Percy Jackson in the constellations.


Zoe Nightshade is tired of being betrayed.

* * *

She is jut a girl, a girl that fawns over boys like all the others. She is the girl who was confident and ready, the girl whose trust everyone wants but could never get. She is a girl who is always betrayed.

Maybe it is her fault. Maybe she is foolish, so, so, foolish for believing that Heracles could actually stay. After all that he did, after all that he's done, she still thinks she might be the one. Maybe it was her fault.

The mountain is cold and stormy that day when she offers him her hairpin, her precious weapon that she's never given to anyone in her lifetime. He takes it, and surprisingly she isn't insulted when he laughs and says, "Pretty one, how will a hairpin help me defeat Ladon?"

Because she is just a girl, and all she can think is: 'he called me pretty.'

She should never have trusted him. He promises he will take her far, far away from her family, far away from the Titan Atlas who crouches under the sky. He promises he will bring her all she has ever wanted, which was happiness and love and everything she can never have. He promises he will give her freedom.

Instead of giving her freedom, he takes it away. After she gives him the hairpin, her prized possession, she fears the reaction of her sisters. If they find out… She will be cast away, blurred from the lines of history. But he is worth it, she decides, and trudges down the mountain.

"Sister," Zoe says, fearing that she already knows.

She is right. The eldest, Aegle, looks at her with those volcanic eyes, and in her eyes Zoe knows she sees it all. "You are not my sister, "she says, her voice crystal-clear and deadly. "I no longer know who you are."

Then the flicker of immortality around her fades, and for once in her life Zoe Nightshade is utterly alone.

Heracles meets her at the base of the mountain, as handsome as ever. "Why are you here, pretty one?" he asks as if he has forgotten what he promised. The compliment suddenly no longer feels like a compliment. She looks at him pleading, but he only smiles tauntingly back.

"Where are you going?" She asks, eying him suspiciously. She's never been suspicious of him before, but there is a first time for everything. Something in her mind tells her she cannot trust him, but she pushes it away. "Can I come with thee?"

She should not have to ask. Heracles has promised that he will take her with him when he leaves, to a better life. But his answer shocks her to her very core. "Girls like you can never come with thee," he snaps, rolling his eyes like she is asking a ridiculous question.

"But you promised!" She gasps, feeling her eyes widen like owls. "You promised you would take me with thee." He laughs as if she is humoring him. She cannot believe what she is hearing.

"I never swore on the River Styx." The words cut into her heart and stab her heart like miniscule daggers. She stumbles backwards as if his words are a blow, and he chuckles. "This is why I cannot have a girl." And then her hand is out and in a flash his head is turned to the side by her slap.

His glare is murderous. "You will regret that, girl, "He snarls, his words coming feral and ferocious. Then he is gone, swallowed by the fog that used to shroud her home.

* * *

Artemis finds her a year later. The goddess is beautiful, with silver eyes inflaming auburn hair that is tucked neatly into a ponytail. They sparkle as she offers Zoe Nightshade a family, a home. "Yes," she says, so fast she doesn't get to think her ideas through. But the goddess smiles.

"Good," She says, and sends her off with the other hunters. And for once in her life, Zoe has a friend.

Her life is she could possibly want. The girls are her friends, and they would never betray her, and she is happy with them, happy like she never was with her own family. But she reminds himself that this is her family now. This is her family, the family that Heracles promised but never did give.

Memories of him invade her mind at night. She still remembers the way his hand griped her wrist, the gleam in his eyes as he talked to her. She didn't understand how she couldn't have seen it before.

He was nothing but a cheater and a liar.

"All boys are this way," she decides, and joins other hunters in their daily routines. But she can't get it out of her mind that maybe not all males are like this. She pushes it away as soon as she can, because her heart cannot afford to be broken again.

Her thousand years in the Hunt are the best years she has ever had. The Hunt is her family, her real family, but they can never truly understand what it is like to love someone. To love someone, then to have them take it away. To love someone, and to be betrayed.

Zoe understands.

As much as she wishes she didn't, as much as she wished it never happened, it did. She cannot deny it. She was once in love with Heracles.

So when she meets Percy Jackson first time, the first thing she thinks is—he is just a boy. Because that is what all boys are—just a boy. Because boys will never amount to anything. Because boys will only break your heart. Because boys have only broken her heart.

She watches as he fights the manticore, and she admires the way his eyes gleam. And then she slaps herself when no one's looking, because she's never acted this way. Except when Heracles was there, her brain chided, and then her fury rises and she vows to hate this boy for all she is worth.

She watches him as he crouches over the edge of the cliff, touching the rocks where his friend disappeared. Zoe feels guilty for killing the girl, but it was necessary. She's never felt guilty before. There is always a first time for everything.

Her glare doesn't skewer him like she hoped it would. If anything he is curious, glancing over at her and taking in her silver tiara. He nods, as if she has confirmed his suspicions. What suspicions? She does not know. Boys have always been hard to figure out. She's learned that the hard way.

A voice in the back of her head chides that he is not just a boy. She shoves it away as hard as she can.

* * *

They go on that Quest together, and Zoe thinks that maybe she's warming up to him just a little bit. But he is still a boy, and that makes all the difference between a friend and an enemy. She likes to consider him an enemy, but she somehow knows he is in-between.

She's not sure whether that's a good thing or bad thing.

He doesn't seem to realize the way she looks at him, the way she treats and just hit better than she does all the other males. She likes to think her facade, her cover is working, but she knows it is not. She sees the way that Bianca glances at her, as if asking—"aren't you a Hunter?"

Thalia looks at her the same way, those piercing electric eyes of her accusing and curious all at the same time. She would like to say she hates the Daughter of Zeus but knows that it is not true. She hates Thalia no less than she hates Percy.

And for once, Zoe regrets swearing the oath.

Then Bianca dies. Zoe knows that Percy has sworn to protect her, and she feels bad for the little boy who will lose his sister. And then she's not sure what to think, because somehow Perseus Jackson has managed to change her view on the male gender.

Then she is scared. Because this felt like when Heracles was alive. What she felt like before he turned immortal. Because this is what she felt like before he broke her heart. She is not sure what to think, so she stays away. She hides her heart under gray concrete walls, and he doesn't attempt to break in.

For once, she is grateful for male ignorance.

One day, she's just sitting there thinking(about him) and cursing herself for it, when the silvery glow around her flickers. She panics, because this brings back memories of when she was a Hesperide, when her sisters were her best friends and they were her all.

And then she forces the thoughts of him from her head, and the flickering eases. This becomes her excuse, the way that she convinces herself he is not good for her. Because he will never like her the way she likes him, because she is too cold to be a friend.

But then her heart screams that maybe she wants him to be a little more. And she is terrified because she knows it's true.

She sets up those walls again, those walls that she swears she's taken down a long time ago. She watches him and pretends that she doesn't, because there is no way she is telling himself. But she already knows she likes, maybe loves, Percy Jackson. Because he is nothing like Heracles.

Because he is not a heartbreaker.

She's even more scared, because he knows she knows that that Annabeth girl likes him. And if he is not a heartbreaker… He will go for her. And she will be left behind.

So he knows she is going to die on this quest. The prophecy states it. It's written in the stars. And only thing she can hope, the only thing that she can want, is for him to end up the only good man.

And then she smacks herself even harder, because that is impossible. Because there has never been a good man and there never will be a good man, and there never will be another man like him who can capture Zoe's heart.

The silvery glow around her flickers once more as she thinks about this. She leaves the area and forces her thoughts to the Daughter of Zeus, and the glow comes back.

* * *

Her home is exactly how she remembered it. From the Gray fog to the haunting melodies of her sisters, it is the same. She can hum along to the songs and remember their lyrics as clearly as day, but her sisters cannot remember her.

To them she is a stranger, another part of a shattered past that she left. She doesn't want it this way, but she knows that this is how it will end. And for some reason, Zoe is glad. If she is to die she does not want to perish drowning in past sorrows. But the golden apples on the tree taunt her, and when Ladon bites her it is the emotional pain that hurts the most.

She cries out, and Percy whips around. His sword—the sword she gave _Heracles—_is clenched tightly in his fight hand, and his eyes are wild as the sea. "Run," she screams, and then she clutches her side and races up the mountain. She knows that Ladon will not follow.

Blood trickles from her fingers. The world blurs dangerously, and she is explaining something when the pain comes. Her knees buckle and she just catches herself, settling for gripping the wound and praying she can still fight. Because if she is to die, she will go down fighting.

"I am fine," She replies to his concern, and then all that pain is forgotten when she sees her mistress.

Artemis is breathing heavily, her breaths coming labored in puffs of air. Metallic sweat beads on her forehead, her shoulders hunched with the weight of the sky. Celestial Bronze chains bind her hands and feet, and Zoe runs as fast as she can and tugs on them. They do not give.

"My Lady," She whispers. "Are you alright?"

Artemis nods, and the look she gives Zoe tells her she hears her doubts. But her gaze is friendly, not at all hostile, and Zoe thinks that maybe, for once, it will end alright. She does not tell her mistress she knows that she will die. Her mistress does not know these might be her final words.

Atlas comes up behind her, and her vision blurs at the sight of him. He is unchanged, but he towers over him. She stands tall despite her aching side, and he fixes her with a glare. "This is a family matter," He booms, and Percy looks so confused she wants to laugh. But this is far from humorous.

Thalia's expression is utter shock. But if hers is dismay, than Percy's is horror. His mouth drops open and he glances between the two of them. The dimming of his eyes sinks Zoe's heart, because she just _knows _he will judge. She can already hear his sharp words.

Those words never come.

She fights for herself, for her mistress, for her life. She fights against the poison, against her father, against the Son of Hermes named Luke. She fights for Percy and Thalia and Annabeth, and she fights for the heroes she will give her life to save.

She fights for a lot of things. She fights for love.

When the blow comes it is harsher than she thought it would be. Pain racks her body in trembles and shocks, and all she can do is lay there and pray. Somehow Zoe knows this is the end.

"I can try to heal the poison, my brave one," Artemis whispers softly. It is a lie. They both know these are her last moments.

"Have I…have I served thee well?" It is a desperate question. She has to see if Artemis knows. Then her mistress smiles, and she knows that she does. But Artemis is not angry, and that is all Zoe needs. Because her mistress's acceptance is the only thing blocking her.

"With great honor," Artemis murmurs, caressing Zoe's hair. Sincerity laces her words. "The finest of my attendants."

"I am sorry we argued," Zoe says to Thalia, because she doesn't want to end unhappy. "We could've been sisters." And when Thalia says she was right, Zoe struggles to shake her head. Because Thalia is wrong this time—and so was she. Not all men will betray her—not Percy Jackson.

"Do you still have the sword, Percy?" He brings it forward, and she runs her fingers over the cap. "You spoke the truth, Percy Jackson. You are nothing like…like Hercules." She speaks his name for the first time in a thousand years. "I am honored that you carry this sword."

And he smiles like it's the best compliment she could ever give him, and she thinks maybe it is. "Zoe-" He starts. But her eyes fix on the sky.

"Stars," She says. "I can see the stars again, my lady."

"Yes, my brave one," Artemis agrees. "They are beautiful tonight."

"Stars." And as her spirit drifts to the heavens, Zoe Nightshade closes her eyes.

* * *

She watches them. She watches _him,_ and she watches Annabeth. And when they finally kiss, she is happy for them, because he is only her dream. He is only her dream, and she wants him to be another girl's reality.

* * *

Zoe Nightshade will always watch him from a starlit sky. She can never have him as her own, but being friends is second best. She will wait for him in the constellations. Because one day, he will come. She knows it.

* * *

**A/N: I do not own PJO. Thanks for reading!**


End file.
